Talk:Questions of authenticity/@comment-25585558-20141029023355

''' A Punitive Culture should be a Restorative Culture '''



 O n October 25th I took part in an activity at the Hull House. On this evening there was an overlap of individuals from non-profits, public sector and arts instructors. All of these people convened onto this Near West side location and took part in something that in one word signified humanity. In order to capture the evening I arrived early and documented the attention and love that was given to the prep work on behalf of the catering company. The two gentleman laid down every fork   and glass goblet with focus and precision. As they set up the dining hall much more was taking place behind the scenes. In the distance I heard voices in the kitchen along with pots and pans clicking and clanging. Upon entering a team of four people were setting up meals that would eventually be stacked in stainless steel containers to retain there heat and freshness. Back in the dining hall place cards were set out with the name LUCKY PIERRE along with a larger menu sided card stock paper greeted each guest upon being seated. On the menu were five meals to choose from that were in fact final meal requests by Texas death row inmates. LUCKY PIERRE in collaboration with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice since 1982 have prepared, consumed and filmed 197 of 310 final meals published by the State of Texas.

 T his event was an extension of the Tamms Year Ten installation within the Proximity of Consciousness exhibition on view at Sullivan Galleries. Tamms Year Ten is a grassroots legislative campaign that set out to reform or close the Illinois state supermax, launched at the ten-year anniversary of its opening. Tamms Correctional Center, considered to be one of the most notorious prisons in the country, was designed for sensory deprivation and caused lasting mental damage to the men held in isolation there. When visiting the exhibit space a set of images line a hall that guides the visitor you into the space that is both immersive, compelling and a reminder that notions of imprisonment and its seclusion also extends to immediate family and those around the encarserated. The images of those affected and there realities presented themselves. This efforts in it’s totality reaches beyond the walls of an institutional setting and traversed itself to Hull House and in between both locations is the brevity of people being exposed, educated and inspired by the lived experience by those effected by the prison system.

 It is in this intersection that I begin to wonder where the art platform blends with the act of social activism. The efforts to galvanize leverage and utilize the passion behind the mission to serve as an agent for change. This immediate urgency became more aware while in the company of attendants on Saturday night. Through the shared stories, tears, images and the food itself were multiple ways to better grasp the trials, challenges and the effects of inhumane imprisonment.

 Further info on Tamms Year Ten:

 YOUTUBE video documents presentation at CREATIVETIME



 http://youtu.be/BaOWPuevJD8

